The present invention relates to orthodontic tweezers used for affixing brackets to a patient's tooth, and more particularly to orthodontic tweezers with a gauge used for affixing and holding brackets precisely and accurately to the attaching position of the patient's tooth.
There are two types of orthodontic brackets. The first is an anterior bracket, designed for attachment to front teeth and the second is a posterior bracket, designed for attachment to back teeth. Generally, as can be seen in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A, an orthodontic bracket is comprised of a base 31, a slot 32a, an identification mark 34, and a stem 36 having tie wing 32b.
The base 31 is slightly larger than the center section of the bracket 103 and is concave to conform to the surface of the patient's tooth. The chamfered slot 32a is slightly angled to the horizontal center line of the bracket 103 to receive an archwire 33 which makes an ideal dentition. The tie wing 32b, being of rhomboidal construction, is used for securing the labial tooth surface's not coming in contact with a ligature wire 35. The identification mark allows an orthodontist quicker identification when rebonding a loose bracket. The ligature wire 35 holds the archwire 33 which will make the ideal dentition after the bracket 103 is glued to the patient's tooth. The stem 36 is integrally formed on the base 31 in order to receive the ligature wire 35 or an elastic ligature.
To make a functional dentition, the orthodontist must glue the bracket 103 accurately 3.5 mm.about.5 mm away from the end of the tooth and rapidly onto the surface of the tooth, because orthodontic bonding materials are congealed within 30 seconds. Simultaneously, the orthodontist must glue the bracket 103 parallel to the vertical axis of the tooth, referring to a vertical scribe line (not shown) of the bracket 103.
Orthodontic tweezers in accordance with the prior art are generally either of the pretentioned or cross-over type, or the non-tensioned type as can be seen in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. The non-tensioned tweezer has a gripping jaw which is not normally in the closed position, but rather must be closed by its user. The cross-over type, on the other hand, has a gripping jaw which is held in the closed position by tension formed by the shape of the tweezer. The user must apply pressure to the members to open the jaw, align the object upon which the tweezers are to be used with, and then reduce the pressure on the members so that the object is held by the gripping area.
The cross-over type is preferred over other designs for work requiring the object to be held securely and accurately, as the amount of force used to hold the object does not depend on the amount of pressure applied by the user. This is especially crucial in the orthodontics field and in the placement of brackets on the patient's teeth, because such brackets are very small and must be held securely and located precisely. Therefore, the preferred embodiment of the tweezers in accordance with this invention uses the cross-over design. However, this invention is not limited to such tweezers, and could also embody tweezers which are not the cross-over type.
On the other hand, to attach the bracket to the patient's tooth, the orthodontist generally uses various conventional tweezers for gripping the bracket. Also, to measure distance between the end of tooth and the bracket the orthodontist generally uses a gauge comprising four different measurement parts which allow the dentist to select the right height for any tooth or uses the naked eye. Using one or both of these methods, the orthodontist ascertains whether or not the bracket is in an accurate position.
However, the prior art system for attaching brackets discussed has limitations in that the bracket is sometimes not in an accurate and precise position and it takes the orthodontist a lot of time to attach the bracket.
The present invention provides tweezers with a guage which overcomes the above mentioned limitations of the prior art system for attaching the bracket. Tweezers with a guage according to the present invention can help the user attach the brackets more accurately and precisely to the patient's tooth and will serve well in the orthodontic field. Also, the user, using the tweezers according to its designated purpose, can more quickly attach the bracket to the patient's tooth with greater comfort.